Audi r8 v8 1st gen a good buy?
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Audi r8 v8 1st gen a good buy?
So I have finally saved enough money to get my dream car. The audi r8 has always been my favourite car, i would just like to know if its a really expensive car to run? Not worried about fuel cost, inurance or tax. Would like to know if I will run into any issues? I know people say about the A/C dieing and engine needing to be removed. Do you need to get the A/C sorted straight away if it does fail? I'm in the UK so it's not like it gets mega hot here. I know the mag ride isn't the most reliable costing £1500 each shock.
If the mag ride where to fail could I just replace with springs or coilovers? The car will only be used as a weekend car and events/shows. Not too bothered whether it's manual or auto (also heard the R-tronic gearbox is clunky) but In my opinion after watching videos it doesn't look as bad as what everyone seems. I'm young and want to experience having such an incredible car, my budget will be max of £35k. I know you can get a bmw m3/m3 for £10k cheaper but they just don't give me the wow factor like the r8 does. So is it truly worth getting one? I know people say you would rather the v10 but insurance is ridiculous for me on them.
Thanks allot
Joe
So I have finally saved enough money to get my dream car. The audi r8 has always been my favourite car, i would just like to know if its a really expensive car to run? Not worried about fuel cost, inurance or tax. Would like to know if I will run into any issues? I know people say about the A/C dieing and engine needing to be removed. Do you need to get the A/C sorted straight away if it does fail? I'm in the UK so it's not like it gets mega hot here. I know the mag ride isn't the most reliable costing £1500 each shock.
If the mag ride where to fail could I just replace with springs or coilovers? The car will only be used as a weekend car and events/shows. Not too bothered whether it's manual or auto (also heard the R-tronic gearbox is clunky) but In my opinion after watching videos it doesn't look as bad as what everyone seems. I'm young and want to experience having such an incredible car, my budget will be max of £35k. I know you can get a bmw m3/m3 for £10k cheaper but they just don't give me the wow factor like the r8 does. So is it truly worth getting one? I know people say you would rather the v10 but insurance is ridiculous for me on them.
Thanks allot
Joe
Hopefully this helps:
A year in to ownership of an R8 V8 I summarised my experience. May be of interest to some of you.
In the end I owned the car for 2.5 years and 30,000 miles and total cost of ownership (including depreciation) was £14,093. I'll let you be the judge of whether that's good value. But even as a daily driver every single mile brought a smile.
Show me the money
Let’s start with the costs. One year of ownership and about 6,000 miles has cost £2,250 (a health check, 4 new tyres, replacement rear brake light and a £875 service) plus road tax and insurance costing £1,100 combined, plus fuel which I’d estimate has cost an eye-watering £2,300. So £5,650 all in. I’m clutching to the fact that’s less than £1 a mile, but it’s obviously a lot of money. And that’s without anything major needing replacing. The tyres I actually couldn’t find cheaper than the price Audi quoted. The rear brake light replacement was something like £230 and I felt Audi weaselled their way out of this being covered under the used approved warranty.
High running and maintenance costs are thankfully offset by very little depreciation over the last year. So overall, it’s probably been cheaper to run than if I’d picked up a brand new A3, which would lose a lot of value over the first few years.
No problems as a daily driver
For a wide, low supercar/sports car it remains an easy daily driver. Visibility is good, there is no scraping over bumps/ramps/inclines if taken at sensible speeds. I had more issues getting a MK1 TTR over bumps than I have had with the R8 – the front splitter gives great clearance for this type of car, and none of the horror stories I’ve heard around Gallardos and the need for front-lift for speed bumps, car parks and driveways. Manoeuvrable at low speeds, and easy to place when parking. Rear parking camera superb. Go easy on the peddle and it feels more like 200BHP than 430BHP, and power delivery is smooth however heavy you are on the peddle, making it a civilised car to drive when you need it to be. It’s wide, and the doors are wide, and I’m pretty wide too – so you do have to think a little about parking spaces, but it has never stopped me from going somewhere or being able to park once I got there.
It is thirsty though. Especially if you keep it a gear or two lower than it needs to be, to keep it in its peak power range and to get a howl from the engine. I’ve maybe averaged mid-teens. So get used to filling it up.
Sense of occasion
Time and familiarity with the car obviously means it doesn't feel quite as special as it did. But I still get exciting at the thought of taking it for a drive, I still take the long/fun route from A to B, it still makes me look back everytime I’m walking away from it. Dropping down low in to the seat feels great. The sound of the V8 remains something wonderful. More subtle, but (for me) far more special than trick exhausts on smaller engines. I love the ‘stealth’ look, in black – but admit that pretty much any colour makes the car look more special (and better to photograph!).
Dealership experience
The car was bought from the Audi used approved network and so has been looked after by Audi dealerships. They’ve been ok, but no stand out service. No more special than I experienced owning Toyotas or Peugeots.
Reminders you’re driving something a bit different
Struggling to source a tyre and find anywhere local outside of the dealer network able to change a tyre reminds you the car is relatively low volume and relatively unique. Halfords, Kwik-Fit, Black Circles, F1 Autocentres were all unable to help. And as far as I am aware not all Audi dealerships are set up to service the R8 (they need to be Audi Sport centres), and I struggled to find good independents familiar with the R8.
Community
Great online community via both r8talk.com and R8 owners club on Facebook, but a shame that there is very little in the way of R8 owners meets. I’m jealous of friends with Porsches and the incredibly active clubs, but obviously there are a few more 911s on the road than there are R8s. And just a little bit more history! But Audi forums like this are great.
Public reaction
I don’t like standing out. So I’d no desire to own this car to say “look at me, look at me”. It nearly put me off. The car does get noticed, but only in a positive way. I’m surprised by how many non-petrolheads know what it is, when they wouldn’t have a clue what model of Ferrari had just driven past. Public reaction has only been positive – I’ve had countless conversations at petrol stations with folk wanting to know a bit about the car, and no issues in traffic or being let out at junctions. Kids pointing and shouting "that's an R8" is lovely.
Interestingly the car gets very little interest or enthusiasm at car meets, which I don’t mind – I’d rather spend the time looking around everyone elses cars than talking about my own - but whilst the general public seem quite interested in it (and know what it is) the car community seems less interested.
and finally
I ended up owning my R8 for 2.5 years and 30,000 miles and loved every single one of them. Highly recommended.
A year in to ownership of an R8 V8 I summarised my experience. May be of interest to some of you.
In the end I owned the car for 2.5 years and 30,000 miles and total cost of ownership (including depreciation) was £14,093. I'll let you be the judge of whether that's good value. But even as a daily driver every single mile brought a smile.
Show me the money
Let’s start with the costs. One year of ownership and about 6,000 miles has cost £2,250 (a health check, 4 new tyres, replacement rear brake light and a £875 service) plus road tax and insurance costing £1,100 combined, plus fuel which I’d estimate has cost an eye-watering £2,300. So £5,650 all in. I’m clutching to the fact that’s less than £1 a mile, but it’s obviously a lot of money. And that’s without anything major needing replacing. The tyres I actually couldn’t find cheaper than the price Audi quoted. The rear brake light replacement was something like £230 and I felt Audi weaselled their way out of this being covered under the used approved warranty.
High running and maintenance costs are thankfully offset by very little depreciation over the last year. So overall, it’s probably been cheaper to run than if I’d picked up a brand new A3, which would lose a lot of value over the first few years.
No problems as a daily driver
For a wide, low supercar/sports car it remains an easy daily driver. Visibility is good, there is no scraping over bumps/ramps/inclines if taken at sensible speeds. I had more issues getting a MK1 TTR over bumps than I have had with the R8 – the front splitter gives great clearance for this type of car, and none of the horror stories I’ve heard around Gallardos and the need for front-lift for speed bumps, car parks and driveways. Manoeuvrable at low speeds, and easy to place when parking. Rear parking camera superb. Go easy on the peddle and it feels more like 200BHP than 430BHP, and power delivery is smooth however heavy you are on the peddle, making it a civilised car to drive when you need it to be. It’s wide, and the doors are wide, and I’m pretty wide too – so you do have to think a little about parking spaces, but it has never stopped me from going somewhere or being able to park once I got there.
It is thirsty though. Especially if you keep it a gear or two lower than it needs to be, to keep it in its peak power range and to get a howl from the engine. I’ve maybe averaged mid-teens. So get used to filling it up.
Sense of occasion
Time and familiarity with the car obviously means it doesn't feel quite as special as it did. But I still get exciting at the thought of taking it for a drive, I still take the long/fun route from A to B, it still makes me look back everytime I’m walking away from it. Dropping down low in to the seat feels great. The sound of the V8 remains something wonderful. More subtle, but (for me) far more special than trick exhausts on smaller engines. I love the ‘stealth’ look, in black – but admit that pretty much any colour makes the car look more special (and better to photograph!).
Dealership experience
The car was bought from the Audi used approved network and so has been looked after by Audi dealerships. They’ve been ok, but no stand out service. No more special than I experienced owning Toyotas or Peugeots.
Reminders you’re driving something a bit different
Struggling to source a tyre and find anywhere local outside of the dealer network able to change a tyre reminds you the car is relatively low volume and relatively unique. Halfords, Kwik-Fit, Black Circles, F1 Autocentres were all unable to help. And as far as I am aware not all Audi dealerships are set up to service the R8 (they need to be Audi Sport centres), and I struggled to find good independents familiar with the R8.
Community
Great online community via both r8talk.com and R8 owners club on Facebook, but a shame that there is very little in the way of R8 owners meets. I’m jealous of friends with Porsches and the incredibly active clubs, but obviously there are a few more 911s on the road than there are R8s. And just a little bit more history! But Audi forums like this are great.
Public reaction
I don’t like standing out. So I’d no desire to own this car to say “look at me, look at me”. It nearly put me off. The car does get noticed, but only in a positive way. I’m surprised by how many non-petrolheads know what it is, when they wouldn’t have a clue what model of Ferrari had just driven past. Public reaction has only been positive – I’ve had countless conversations at petrol stations with folk wanting to know a bit about the car, and no issues in traffic or being let out at junctions. Kids pointing and shouting "that's an R8" is lovely.
Interestingly the car gets very little interest or enthusiasm at car meets, which I don’t mind – I’d rather spend the time looking around everyone elses cars than talking about my own - but whilst the general public seem quite interested in it (and know what it is) the car community seems less interested.
and finally
I ended up owning my R8 for 2.5 years and 30,000 miles and loved every single one of them. Highly recommended.
To answer your questions more specifically:
- No reason you'd need to replace aircon if/when it fails unless you want aircon
- Magrides can be refurbed for less, or replaced with a more robust passive system if they fail.
- Don't discount the RTronic without understanding how to use it and without giving it a try. If used correctly in manual mode it's engaging, and fast-changing.
- Ignore the "you should get the V10 version" comments. They're mostly from people who will never own either version and it seems to be another generic comment made every time the R8 is discussed! Yes the V10 offers a lot more perform, but honestly 440bhp V8 sounds a and is plenty fast enough for B road blasts. And it's a beautifully balanced car.
- No reason you'd need to replace aircon if/when it fails unless you want aircon
- Magrides can be refurbed for less, or replaced with a more robust passive system if they fail.
- Don't discount the RTronic without understanding how to use it and without giving it a try. If used correctly in manual mode it's engaging, and fast-changing.
- Ignore the "you should get the V10 version" comments. They're mostly from people who will never own either version and it seems to be another generic comment made every time the R8 is discussed! Yes the V10 offers a lot more perform, but honestly 440bhp V8 sounds a and is plenty fast enough for B road blasts. And it's a beautifully balanced car.
Thanks mate for such a thorough description, really helps that. What's the servicing like aswell? Seeing as it's audi I could imagine a specialist being able to do it rather than audi dealer?
I'm not bothered about the whole looks thing, I love the car and don't think I would be looking at getting anything different for many many years, I do see thet must of hit the bottom line of depreciation which makes me want one even more (rise in price maybe? Future classic?) in my lifetime I'd only seen 3 or 4 r8's around where I live, making them a rare car to see on the road. I must say either the black/grey/white colours are my favourite! Capistro exhaust system aslo makes it sound like an f1 car!
Thanks again
Joe
I'm not bothered about the whole looks thing, I love the car and don't think I would be looking at getting anything different for many many years, I do see thet must of hit the bottom line of depreciation which makes me want one even more (rise in price maybe? Future classic?) in my lifetime I'd only seen 3 or 4 r8's around where I live, making them a rare car to see on the road. I must say either the black/grey/white colours are my favourite! Capistro exhaust system aslo makes it sound like an f1 car!
Thanks again
Joe
NewNameNeeded said:
To answer your questions more specifically:
- No reason you'd need to replace aircon if/when it fails unless you want aircon
- Magrides can be refurbed for less, or replaced with a more robust passive system if they fail.
- Don't discount the RTronic without understanding how to use it and without giving it a try. If used correctly in manual mode it's engaging, and fast-changing.
- Ignore the "you should get the V10 version" comments. They're mostly from people who will never own either version and it seems to be another generic comment made every time the R8 is discussed! Yes the V10 offers a lot more perform, but honestly 440bhp V8 sounds a and is plenty fast enough for B road blasts. And it's a beautifully balanced car.
Thanks for the info, helped alot! Will be on a lookout now or get my local dealer to find me one. Is there anything I need to know what to look out for when purchasing one? Thanks alot - No reason you'd need to replace aircon if/when it fails unless you want aircon
- Magrides can be refurbed for less, or replaced with a more robust passive system if they fail.
- Don't discount the RTronic without understanding how to use it and without giving it a try. If used correctly in manual mode it's engaging, and fast-changing.
- Ignore the "you should get the V10 version" comments. They're mostly from people who will never own either version and it seems to be another generic comment made every time the R8 is discussed! Yes the V10 offers a lot more perform, but honestly 440bhp V8 sounds a and is plenty fast enough for B road blasts. And it's a beautifully balanced car.
Joeramplin123 said:
Thanks for the info, helped alot! Will be on a lookout now or get my local dealer to find me one. Is there anything I need to know what to look out for when purchasing one? Thanks alot
There's a very rare but extremely costly possibility of the frame cracking on early R8s. Would be worth researching this a bit further and understanding what checks you need to make to ensure any purchase is ok.Other than that they are generally reliable.
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